It’s been a while since we’ve gone prawning when there’s a reward of $1 per prawn caught. For the uninitiated, this isn’t anything new. Other prawning places have had such promos since many, many years ago. I suppose Ah Hua Fishing knows this. So they upped the ante by also stating on their Facebook page that there would be a “Free buffet lunch *while the food lasts*”. SO… knowing this, we would be a little silly if we did not show up, right? And show up we did, bright and early at 9plus on Labour Day! 
And there were probably some 20+ people ALREADY hard at work prawning. LOL! *Ah Hua Fishing is at 125A Pasir Ris Road – definitely use your GPS to get here as it’s quite ulu. Parking lots are available here. (OK… before you decide to pop by, read this review first. You may just change your mind.)
Photo taken at around 9.08am:
BUT erm… here’s the beginning of our disappointment…
And I’m not even referring to the fact that most of the people prawning were not wearing masks.
#1: Price stated on Ah Hua Fishing’s FB Page was not what we were expected to pay
It’s quite clear from the image above that 3 hours of prawning would cost $36, right? Well… when we got there, the price was magically $40. So what’s the extra $4 for? The “free” buffet lunch?
We paid $40 x 2 since we were already there. Just thankful it wasn’t $50 or $100, which could be possible too since the listed rates on FB were not what ended up being charged at the venue itself.
#2: There were no smoking signs aplenty, but lots of smokers too
I walked up to one of the operators there and asked if smoking was or wasn’t allowed on the premises. The dude simply told me that “by right, not allowed… but I cannot stop them”. (@_@) If they were to use double hooks or triple hooks or whatever to increase their catch rate, then I’m SURE the operators would “stop” them. But what’s a little cigarette smoke, right? Who’s it gonna harm, huh? If you were to bring your babies and young children here to hang around while you prawn, just let them take deep breaths. No harm done, ya?
Yup, incensed I am. So I’ll just go ahead and say that if smoking is allowed, despite all the (useless) No Smoking signs, then this establishment would not be deemed a family-friendly one in my eyes. Feel free to disagree.
#3: We expected a BUFFET. We got a… BENTO…
What we received instead:
Thankfully, the buffet bento was decent. Or maybe I was just too hungry after 3 hours of prawning!
FREE BUFFET LUNCH WOR…
Anyway, that non-buffet bento was from Putra Delicacies Pte Ltd, which is actually nearby. I liked the chicken. The rice went really well with that sauce provided too.
And if you were wondering… there were no drinks and definitely no dessert. Most mindboggling buffet I’ve been to in ages. XD Oh yah… no serviettes too!
~
Anyhow…
If you were wondering about the catch rate…
Between him and I, we caught a total of 22 big head prawns in 3 hours. Which is quite terrible. Less than 4 prawns per hour each. (Compare this to our recent prawning session at Fish @ AMK: He caught 11 big head prawns in an hour while I’d caught 7 tiger prawns).
And we were among those who had caught considerably more prawns.
Other folks were getting fidgety and some were actually quite upset.
- One uncle even came over to ask for some of our ‘prawning powder’ (xia fen) though he already had his own. (I wouldn’t have given him any. But my darling’s the one he approached… and my D is too sweet)
- Another guy told the operators to tell 2 aunties to go back to their own prawning pond (the larger one) instead of coming over to the smaller pond (that I was also at). He (rightfully) felt it’s unfair that we kept to our ‘positions’ but they were prawning at any pond they liked. After all… every prawn the aunties caught meant there was one less prawn for us to catch. 1 prawn = $1 OK!
- One couple got into an altercation with an uncle. The younger dude kept glaring at the man. The man ended up pounding his fist on the railing multiple times… for what? But I was too engrossed in prawning… I totally missed the start of the drama.
So… to wrap up this entire episode…
I’d have to say that the catch rate was poorer than expected, the anticipated buffet spread did not materialise, and well, I guess most people can only be fooled once.